On 4 August 2022, the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship (CAS) hosted the launch of the BRIDGES Sustainability Science Coalition.

BRIDGES is a global sustainability science coalition established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Management of Social Transformations Programme. BRIDGES was established in March 2021 at the UNESCO Management of Social Transformations Programme Intergovernmental Council.

In his welcoming address, Professor James Ogude, Director of CAS, spoke to the importance of this initiative. “We have been grappling with the phenomenon of climate change as “a social, historical, and cultural force that affects lives and societies in an even and often in unequal way”. The BRIDGES initiative offers us another important platform to grapple with some of these problems, and more, including matters related to sustainability, and perhaps more importantly, by inserting a humanities-led Sustainability Science into these processes,” he said.

Professor Steven Hartman, Visiting Professor in the Faculty of History and Philosophy at the University of Iceland and Executive Director of the BRIDGES Sustainability Science Coalition spoke to what this initiative aims to achieve. “BRIDGES focuses on an inclusive human-centred and humanities-driven approach
to sustainability science, Prof Hartman said.

“BRIDGES aims to build resilience inclusively, respectfully and wisely through integrated approaches to common risks and challenges. BRIDGES also aims to develop effective approaches to social environmental threats and to possible development enabling resilient societies and ecosystems.”

“The Centre [for the Advancement of Scholarship] shares the vision of the coalition in the realisation of transdisciplinary research that is humanities-led and that seeks to harness a trans-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approach to environmental research and advocacy, and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UP, Professor Tawana Kupe said.

“The Centre’s core focus has always been collaborative knowledge production and academic inquiry that transcends disciplinary boundaries, with a specific focus on the humanities and the social sciences. Ongoing work in the Centre in the sphere of environmental humanities, and a growing network of South African and African partners, means the Centre is well placed to further the mission of building a regional network of African institutions of higher learning and research units who can participate and collaborate on sustainability science research.”

Prof Kupe said UP looks forward to working with other global hubs to bridge disciplinary expertise, contribute to a sustainable future and advance a sustainable future.